Benazir is the duo from Guayaquil that explores unique musical genres in the scene such as ‘indie folk’, ‘shoegaze’ and ‘dream pop’

When two people meet and make music together, anything can happen.

In case of Sebastian Cepeda And Belen Orellana It is something exceptional, as they both did it without any prior professional musical knowledge, and yet completely succeeded in conveying new sounds to Ecuadorian ears.

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And the Guayaquileños who make up for it Benazir, In the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, they started building the four record productions that appear in their repertoire. They were both 20 years old when they started, and now 24.

“I think it was March 2022 that we came out Aesthetic. That was our first song and I started producing it here at home on a laptop and I asked Belén if she wanted to sing because she liked it but never thought about doing it seriously. We liked that single and decided to do more, which would later be part of our single first EP called Intangible comfort, part 1. From there we never stopped until now″Sebastián confesses in an interview with Diario El Universo.

What was it like making that first song in the middle of the pandemic? What did they feel?

Sebastian: Well, I’ve wanted to do a personal project for a long time. So I think the pandemic was the best time in that sense, because I had all the time in the world to be cooped up in my room for eight hours a day or more and make music. In a period of two months I was able to make six songs. One thing that the pandemic clearly affected was the issue of recording the votes, because I didn’t have the equipment to record. Once things became more normal, we were able to purchase equipment and create a more professional project.

Belén: I was scared to death so it was complicated and that’s why the process was slowed down a bit because I recorded my voice in the early morning hours when no one was awake to listen to me, but it was a good experience. I don’t think I’ve ever done a project alone. For example, I have an idea for the graphic line and Sebastián knows how to process it. We handled everything together.

Both admit that the practice was complicated, as neither had any musical or vocal training. “Everything was self-taught. I started playing guitar seriously when I was 13 years old and was never really good at it, but I realized that composing was always my thing. I could imagine what I wanted a song to look like, and once we learned about music production through experience, I understood how to create them technically, harmonically, theoretically, and melodically from the computer.

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Benazir’s music style

“Everything definitely happened and changed over time depending on what we liked musically. I was very clear about what I wanted to do and that was to make quite electronic and experimental sounds. Once we accomplished that, I said, “Well, the truth is, this isn’t going any further and I’m going to leave it for a while.” After a while I became addicted to other styles of music,” says Sebastián.

They have gone through different genres such as stone alternative, indie folk, dream dollAnd shoe can.

They have several references and inspirations when creating music, including artists like My bloody Valentine, Slow dive, Sweet journeyAnd Charli XCX.

But Animal collective It’s the group they always have in mind. “It depends on the project, but for me that band is the musical beacon of my life. Everything they do seems perfect to me and when it counts people I know I can go to them for inspiration, and when it comes to psychedelic music or whatever, I can always go back to them,” says Sebastián exuberantly.

What does Benazir mean?

The unique name with which they baptized their project has a special meaning. Sebastián says they chose that name because it was the name of Benazir Bhutto, the first woman to become prime minister of a Muslim country and who led Pakistan twice.

This word in Arabic means authentic, original and incomparable. “Something that has never been done before. I read her story and felt quite inspired. It was the perfect name, we like it and it stayed that way.”

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The two are a couple on and off stage, as they met while studying at school. Since then they have been together for almost 8 years.

“We’ve known each other since we were little, but when they put us in a class at age 15, we became close. One day we had to do a math project in pairs, and that was the moment we became best friends. Within a year we were already in a relationship,” says Belén.

It seems that both were destined to remain a duo forever.

During his student days, Sebastián was part of Catalystan alternative band Pop stone with eighties influences, which he created together with his friends in 2016, until 2019, the year they graduated.

Now he devotes himself to producing music for other artists, in his studio The hill Recordings. There he records, mixes and masters songs together with Klaus Rose.

“At first we produced for people we knew or for artists who were just starting out. Over time we started collaborating with some who already had songs, like Javier Calderón and Juan Verlán. We are now working with a local band called The Guayacans”, mentions.

Belén, for her part, is a graphic designer and professional make-up artist.

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Benazir’s latest project

Cisabachis most recent studio album released on September 21, 2023, It is a production of 15 songs entirely by myself shoe can, a musical genre that is little explored in Ecuador. This is a style of stone which is characterized by a sound in which the distinction between distorted instruments and voices becomes blurred.

The concept of this is saying goodbye, it’s about ending a phase of life and accepting that ending with grace. There is a lifespan for every project or artistic idea and nothing happens when it comes to an end. “It seems like a sad album, but it really isn’t,” Belén explains.

Cobwebthe third single from the album it is the favorite song of both as they feel it is one of the singles where they were able to best convey the feeling of what they really wanted it to sound like.

It’s exactly with Cisabac who is being said goodbye Benazir, because even if they continue live performances, they will not be releasing any more music. So they both decided.

By the end of 2023, with more than 33,000 plays on Spotify in more than 60 countries around the world, and four years after the project’s creation, Benazir meant possibilities. “It was the opportunity to express everything we wanted musically and lyrically. Even though we have completed this stage, it is still such a personal thing and therefore ours,” they both say.

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Benazir in concert

The duo plans to play at Diva Nicotina tomorrow night, Friday, December 22 (Step 10, Cerro Santa Ana).

At 10:00 PM, will play in front of a large audience for the first time, after having previously had relatively small performances. “The invitation to the concert was because Lalo Hidalgo wrote to me one day saying that they showed him our music, that he really liked it, and that he wanted us to participate in it,” Sebastián explains.

Freshness Sonora is the name of Show that will bring them together on stage with other local talents such as Lorenzo Eleven And Mars and Jaguar.

Tickets: presale $5; $10 at the door. You can purchase them through the Ticket2go website.